


Taken

by FamiliarWrites



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28082979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FamiliarWrites/pseuds/FamiliarWrites
Summary: When friends disappear who else is there to find them?
Relationships: ZombieCleo/JoeHills, ZombieCleo/Xisumavoid
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you do when a friend is late?

Something was wrong.

Joe had said he was almost there which usually meant he was at the gate or at least coming down from the Nether Portal. He wasn’t there. Maybe he had actually decided to say he was almost there when he was almost there. Ya… that was it… right? No that was definitely it. Cleo would just wait a bit and Joe would be there any second. “ Five minutes and if he isn’t here I’ll go look for him.” Cleo knew that she was worried, but she didn’t want to be so she refused to acknowledge it.

Five minutes turned into ten.

Ten to fifteen.

Fifteen to twenty.

“Alright, that’s it where is he?” Cleo was getting more and more anxious the longer she waited. It had been much longer than five minutes and Cleo was more than ready to start looking for Joe, but where to start? He would probably be on the hyperlinks in the Nether right? And if he wasn’t there were only so many places to go in between their bases. Marching up the path to the portal Cleo kicked something. A metal wrist guard. All the hermits had them, but most had them invisible when wearing them. No one took theirs off since they provided chat messages and a list of who was in the server at any given time. The bracelet was covered in dirt and broken open indicating the bearer hadn't taken it off willingly. It wasn't Cleo’s since hers was still on her arm. The bands tended to have names or symbols carved into them in case they did get lost. Cleo traced the two eyes carved to the right of her screen panel as she bent down to pick up the bracelet. At the sight of the engraving on the band, Cleo nearly dropped the metal device back onto the path. Engraved to the right of the screen was a simple @. This was Joe’s band. He had it less than thirty minutes ago when he’d said he was almost there. What had happened? If Joe’s band had been broken off barely five minutes after she’d left her storage room that meant… what did that mean? Without his band, he wouldn’t be able to message anyone so he could be in trouble and no one would even know. Cleo promptly pulled up the player list. Joe was on but… his name was grayed out, darker than active players, but ever so lighter than afk ones. Something was up and Cleo was going to find out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! This was really fun to write! Sorry if it sounds wonky I don't really proof-read. I've been wanting to do a Cleo fan- something or other for so long! If you actually read it thanks! And um sorry it's so short I wanted a cliffhanger lol.


	2. Xisuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light-hearted new person introduction!

Rushing up the path from where she’d found the band Cleo was in a panic. Joe was gone! Cleo needed to find Joe. His name was still in the odd state it had been earlier where it was darker than normal yet lighter than afk players. Cleo was too busy fearing the worst that she didn't even notice when she went through the portal and there was someone coming towards it. Thump. “Yike!” she cried as she collided with the person she'd run into. “S-sorry.” it took Cleo a second to realize she had run into someone.  
“Cleo… are you alright?” a voice asked snapping Cleo out of her still frenzied state. Finally looking up Cleo realized she had run into Xisuma.  
“Oh hi, X. Ya, I’m fine… what are you doing here?” Cleo’s portal wasn’t one X passed by often.  
“I was actually coming to visit you. You know you seem a little… alarmed. Do you want to talk?” Xisuma's eyes held a genuine look of concern as he looked down at her through his helmet. Cleo debated telling X what was going on, but he had so much already on his shoulders as Admin she didn't want to worry him with this, but then again X might be the only player in the server that could help. Cleo decided to start by acknowledging the first thing X had said while she mulled over whether or not to tell him about Joe.  
“Well it's nice that you decided to visit, I um er I’m just a bit… concerned. Ya, that's all. Heh heh.” Cleo knew she wasn't a good liar and that X could see right through that. She just had to hope X wouldn't push it. Of course, that was too much to hope as X gave her a look that made her know that she needed to elaborate. “Alright fine. It's just… ugh here.” Cleo couldn't even find the words to explain the predicament she was in. so she decided that the armband could speak for itself.  
“What is- where di- Wait this is Joe's band!” X stammered as his face became a flurry of emotions and confusion.  
“Joe messaged me saying he was almost at my base since we were going to hang out today, but I waited for twenty minutes without him showing up and when I started to head for my portal I found that” What X made of that was up to him, but the longer Cleo waited the more anxious she became and the less she wanted X’s concern or help.  
“Well… ok… this is new.” X was still having a hard time processing what this meant.  
“Sure is, also look at Joe’s name on the tab list. It's in between active and afk colorwise.” Cleo was starting to get frustrated. Why wouldn't X just give her the band and let her get on her way to find Joe?! It wasn't like she wanted his help!  
“Oh, your right. Wait one second I think I can…” X started murmuring and typing things into his own band that was integrated into his suit. Once he was done he pressed a button and frowned when nothing happened. “That's odd…” he murmured finally.  
“What is?” Cleo’s curiosity began overwhelming her frustration with Xisuma. She had never seen the Admin at work or even confused before.  
“I- My- My- I can't teleport to Joe or even get his coords?” Xisuma said it more like a question and less as a statement as if even he didn't understand how his Admin commands were being blocked.  
“That's- I- Ok, I have no idea what that means since I have no idea how your Admin powers work, but ok that's odd.” Both Cleo’s frustration and curiosity had been replaced by confusion; mainly due to the fact she didn't know how Admin anything worked. Cleo's statement brought laughter to X’s eyes and his visible face relaxed.  
“Cmon Cleo lets walk and talk, I can tell you more about Admin things if you want as long as you tell me what's up with Joe.” Cleo could tell that X could barely contain his laughter by his tone of voice but for some reason, Cleo didn't mind. It was good to see the Admin happy, even if all she could see were his eyes.  
“Ok let's go then shall but first,” Cleo chuckled pushing past him and running ahead as she called back to X, “Race you to the shopping district!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fun. Really light-hearted since apparently, I'm incapable of writing anything but that xD


	3. "Normal"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Force more powerful than an Admin? HMMMMMMMMMM?

For a moment Cleo forgot about Joe being missing, about everything. Then she stopped when she reached the portal to the shopping district. And everything caught up to her. And when everything catches up you just can't continue to move. Cleo froze so suddenly in front of the portal that Xisuma didn't have time to react. For the second time that day, they collided.  
“Cleo are you ok?” X was the first to snap out of his daze.  
“Hm? Oh ya, I’m fine sorry about that. Are you ok?” Cleo realized what had happened and slowly was able to process Xisuma’s words.  
“Uh-huh. Ok. Why’d you stop?” X was fine, as usual, but was more curious about Cleo’s sudden halt. She had been so close to winning the race and it wasn't like Cleo to give up a bit of friendly competition or like anyone to suddenly freeze like that.  
“Just… just lost myself for a second and when I paused… well everything caught up I guess.” X knew how that felt. It’d happened to him a few times. “C’mon let's walk and talk, for reals this time.” Cleo had already moved on, but X was concerned for her. She and Joe were really close this season. She must be terrified for him he thought. And if she was acting so casual about it she must be blocking it out. As he thought about it his worry for the undead girl increased. It wasn't good that Joe was gone, it was worse that Cleo, his best friend, had figured it out, and it was extremely bad if Cleo was blocking her emotions. X knew from experience that blocking out how you feel can lead you to make some bad decisions. All Xisuma could do at the moment though was wait. There was a possibility that Cleo wasn’t blocking out her worry, but just containing it. That wouldn't be as bad, not the best, but not as bad. As they traveled through the portal Cleo started asking about Xisuma’s Admin commands and how they worked. Maybe X was forgetting his own concern about blocking emotions since he started rambling about what could be done with the Admin commands and didn't think about the fact Cleo might be distracting him once. Or maybe there was something else at play. A number you needed to learn before you could solve the equation. Something that neither X nor Cleo knew existed, let alone was impacting this seeming normal conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Yay" dialogue. Really fun to write dialogue. Yup totally. I'm not being sarcastic. But seriously dialogue sucks, that was self-inflicted torture, and uh yay if ya actually read this. It was fun to write =) oh also sorry it's so short. I yet again want a cliffhanger since I was some how not writing light-hearted things and was actually getting into the ahem, "spooky" vibe.


	4. Attacked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe wakes up in a mysterious place. Can he figure out where he is? Or better yet who or what attacked him?

Joe was groggy when he woke up. Where was he? He had been heading towards Cleo’s Zoo gate from her Nether portal when-. Frick! Joe reached for his arm. His arm guard was gone. When he was walking down the path from the portal something had attacked him. The best Joe could do to describe whatever it had been was a metal cat. No. That’s definitely what it was. It had been a robotic cat. Whoever had built it didn’t seem to want it to look real since it was covered in metal plates. It had been slightly bigger than a house cat but not quite the size of a wild cat, definitely large enough to knock Joe over. As Joe thought more about what had happened he remembered that the robot had gone directly towards his arm that held his arm guard. Smart. He couldn’t use or see chat, or even who was in the server without the armband. How long had it been since he’d been attacked? More importantly, he needed to get back to the question at hand. Where was he? He’d faded in and out of consciousness so he only recalled snippets of what had happened. First, he recalled the cat jumping at him and knocking him over. The bot had been swift giving him no time to react until he was already on the ground. He’d struggled for a moment before fading out of consciousness for the first time. When he’d woken again there had been something else. It had been… a flame? Yes, that’s what it had been… but it had been a wispy silhouette of a person. A flaming person. How odd. The flame had been examining his arm guard before dropping it on the path and kicking it away. Then the cat had started pulling him along the path and he passed out again. That was it. The next time he woke up he was here. And again WHERE was he? Finally, Joe took a moment to look around. He wasn’t anywhere he recognized. It was a lab of sorts. It wasn’t like a science lab per se. It was all stone with strips of stone brick running up the walls and across the ceiling. Speaking of which was lit by lanterns in a rather peculiar manner. He was in a cage obviously. Maybe against the back wall. Across the room, Joe could see a possible exit. As he took in his surroundings he pushed himself up off the stone tiled floor. Behind him, on the wall was a dark gray rectangle with lighter lettering. It was large so Joe couldn’t quite read it. The rest of his cage was basic iron bars and outside of that, the room was pretty empty. As he took in his surroundings he started to devise a plan. Whatever had taken him had somehow gotten into his inventory so he had no tools or armor. He did have a decent amount of food so he still had time. As Joe examined the bars more closely he noticed a slot near one of the side walls. As he was looking around he heard pistons activating causing him to look up in the direction it was coming from. As he watched a cyan platform descended from the slot in the far wall. An elevator, interesting. On the platform was a single figure followed by the mechanical cat that had attacked him earlier. As the figure stepped off the platform a clang rang through the silent room.   
“Ah, you’re awake. That’s good. Well I’m guessing you are curious aren’t you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading :3. Hope you enjoyed it. Really happy I finally have a plan for the story so yay!


	5. Forget

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X go crazy I guess. lol

Cleo was anxious. X could tell. He had a sixth sense when it came to the hermits. As he talked X was quietly debating in the back of his mind. Should he ask about Joe? No that might make her close up again. But they were gonna have to talk about it at some point. Oh, she was so happy though listening to X ramble on about the server. He would have to bring it up soon but not now. Now Cleo was happy. As they talked a nagging feeling grew in the back of Xisuma’s mind. Something wasn’t right. When he finally realized this he started paying more attention to what he was saying and just everything. That’s when he noticed it. Something was off about Cleo but he couldn't quite place it. Distracted by his thoughts Xisuma stopped talking.   
“You alright?” Cleo asked smiling.   
“Hm? Oh ya. Just thinking.” X knew he was getting closer to placing what was up. He kn- that’s it. Cleo’s eyes. There was something in them. A flame of sorts. A black flame. How peculiar. For some reason, X couldn't make himself think about it further. What was he thinking about anyway? Oh ya, he was telling Cleo about being an Admin. What was peculiar? He was sure it was nothing. But… why could he not remember? What was he thinking? He was sure it was nothing? Right? But what if? NO! It was better to NOT worry. He was SURE no POSITIVE it was NOTHING! Absolutely NOTHING. But.. A little voice whispered in the back of his mind, what if it was SOMETHING? Then what? What was he supposed to do then? Wait. Cleo’s eyes. That was it. Right? But… what about them? What about Cleo’s eyes? What was he thinking? Why couldn’t he remember? What was happening? Why? How? What? Why? How? What? He- How- Why- What- Nothing. It was NOTHING. Ya, that’s it. Nothing. Nothing was the answer. It had to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late. I'm tired. Enjoy? lol, this was odd to write... that's putting it simply. Also really short I think.. ya its short chapter time!


	6. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe wants answers but sometimes you can only get those by not asking the obvious questions.

Joe was confused. He wanted answers, but not from whoever this person was. Whoever it was was British. Joe felt like he knew the voice but he couldn’t quite place it. Though it sounded familiar it also sounded fake. Like a voice changer. No that wasn’t it. It was more robotic than a voice changer though Joe presumed that a voice changer could imitate the thing before him. As the figure stepped forward it broke the deafening silence with a loud CLANG that rang throughout the entire room. The noise snapped Joe out of his thoughts. “Yes, I want answers… I just don’t trust you to give them.” There that should let whoever the figure was known just how he felt. He didn’t trust the figure. It was being followed by the cat that had attacked him and anything that feline trusted was Joe’s enemy.  
“Is it Plated here that’s bothering you? Or perhaps it’s the fact you know nothing of me or your situation.” As the figure spoke Joe listened not to the words but again to the voice. British. How could a sound so artificial have an accent? Fed up with the situation Joe glared at whoever was the figure so far away hiding in the shadows. Coward wouldn’t even show his face. And, Joe finally acknowledged that the figure had spoken, what the heck was Plated? He’d start there he decided. At least that would give the figure a sense of security in that Joe didn’t care too much… he hoped.  
“Plated? What the heck is Plated?” Questions. The figure seemed to like those so the more he asked the better chance of figuring things out he had. No. He couldn’t ask too much or the thing in the shadows would get suspicious.  
“Why Plated is my trusty sidekick here. She’s the one I sent to, ahem, deal with you.” So the cat had a name. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. Then again, it probably wouldn’t listen to him. It was a robot after all. But something was off about the cat. Though it was robotic definitely Joe could vaguely make out patches of fur. Those hadn’t been there when he was attacked. Was this figure adding to the feline robot? Whatever was happening he needed to find out more, just, not now, if he asked anything else the figure would likely grow tired of Joe’s questions. There was one thing lurking in the back of Joe’s mind. Why? Why him? Out of the 24 Hermits why him? There were others with more interesting talents than his. Like Iskall. Iskall was a fantastic redstoner and could build some really interesting things. Take the tree he was building this season. It made the towering jungle trees look tiny in comparison. Maybe by looking at the figure’s choice of hostage, he could figure out more of his captor’s plans. Maybe, just maybe, he could even stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAy NEw cHaptEr! Happy New Year everyone! Here's a new chapter! Hoping that 2021 is a little less crazy than 2020.


	7. Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idea is forming slowly, yet it just might work.

Cleo was blissfully unaware that Xisuma was looking at her until he suddenly stopped talking. “You alright?” she asked concern scraping at the edges of her mind.   
“Hm? Oh ya. Just thinking” X replied looking down at her. Then Cleo noticed something flicking around in X’s eyes. A flame. It was black almost like his pupil had turned into fire. Cleo felt a sort of mental barrier rise up as she tried to concentrate on it. Pushing at the wall Cleo felt the barrier fall and realized that as X had been talking about the server she had completely forgotten about Joe. Slapping her palm to her head she muttered a curse and looked up at X.  
“I forgot about Joe. How could I be so stupid? He’s my best friend for goodness sake!” X gave her a confused glance. Then as if waking up the flame disappeared from his eyes and he looked around.  
“Your right! That was weird. Hey Cleo did you feel anything?” For once X was unsure of what was going on. For some reason being asked a question by the Admin made Cleo a lot more sure of herself. It was as if the Admin not knowing something she did made her stronger.  
“I did actually. It was like a mental barrier, a very weak one that fell over with a light breeze, but a barrier at that. Oh and also Your pupils looked like flames just saying.” Cleo smiled at X. “What about you. Did you feel anything?”  
“I felt that sort of mental barrier as well. And there was a flame in your eyes as well.” X even sounded groggy… or she thought it was groggy she wasn’t quite sure at this point.   
“How weird… I wonder… no, but maybe” Cleo, who was lost in thought, completely forgot X was sitting there too.  
“What you thinking about?” Xisuma asked genuinely wondering what might be on Cleo’s mind.   
Cleo looked up at X her eyes wide with a mix of surprise and confusion, “I think I can find Joe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um... I think when I write dialogue I write shorter chapters. Maybe I should ease up on the dialogue. Ya, that might be a good idea. Also one of my writing tools said this chapter sounded sad, anxious, and disapproving... so yee we'll see.


	8. Villain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two allies talk and a few things are revealed.

He turned around done with his prisoner. He simply wasn’t entertained by the human. As he turned around and stepped onto the sky blue platform of the elevator he thought he heard his prisoner mumble curses. “No worries,” he thought to himself. “He’ll know my plan soon. And when he finds out what it is there will be no stopping it.” as the pistons below pushed the platform up the hooded figure stepped into a secret door that only he and his allies knew about. The door led down a long hallway covered entirely with stone. Without the orangey glow from the lamps above him, the passage would be pitch black. As the figure walked down the hall the lamps faded behind him until nothing was left to light his way but a faint red glow seeming to come from the figure himself. After a few minutes, he arrived in a small room covered in papers. The room was very much like the hall leading to it with its walls and ceiling being stone. The exception was the smooth stone floor that gave to room a bit more personality if you could call it that. In the corner was a table long overrun by papers and in the ceiling a lamp casting that warm orange glow around. It wasn't too bright, the figure liked that. As he entered the room he sighed and sat on the stone floor looking over papers. He stopped as his gaze fell on an old copy of “The Hermiton Herald”. It was nearly blank with nothing but a giant GG taking up the space where news normally was. It was from the mayoral campaign. That had been four months before he’d arrived. He looked around one last time. The room was no longer needed but the figure still enjoyed looking around it. As he stood up a small shadow raced over the papers and rose up materializing into a black flaming silhouette of a person.   
“Well, how’s it going so far?” the flame seemingly spoke in a cold voice.  
“It’s fine. I do believe that the next phase should be ready soon as soon as the human who built this place realizes that he can’t enter anymore.” The figured hated the fact that he couldn’t see the face of the flame man. It bothered him since he first saw his ally materialize like this. He couldn’t quite place it, but it made him trust the flame less than he should an ally.  
“Well, I’m glad. Once that happens you can get me out of this place and we can watch the server burn to ashes!” Always with the fire the figure thought. Always with the fire.  
“Ok. He should realize soon and then we will take our revenge once and for all.” No matter what he thought he always returned to the reason he was doing this. He was going to exact revenge on those who he deemed deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEHEHE. I put a really big clue to who the figure, and really the flame as well, could be. ...I wonder who will figure it out. Also thanks Fintastica for suggesting I describe the surroundings. I think it helped at least a little. Still a pretty short chapter but if I kept writing I would reveal too much about the villains soooo ya.


	9. Pacing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pacing can give you an idea, but maybe not having an idea is better

The figure turned, presumably bored of Joe’s silence, and stepped onto the elevator out of the room, followed by the metal cat that so loyally went with it. Once both the figure and the robotic cat were gone Joe started looking around more for a way out of the cell. There really wasn’t any openings except for the one near the wall, but that wasn’t big enough to fit through. Only about a meter wide and across   
After a while of searching, Joe gave up and slumped on the floor, back against the cold, iron bars. “Why am I even here?” He wondered aloud. Standing back up Joe began pacing the cell slowly. As he walked he thought and thought and thought. But nothing came to mind. That was odd he normally could think of at least something in any situation. Slumping against the cool, now familiar bars of the cell, with a single glace he realized something. He realized where he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and took forever to write. Sorry it took so long I lost motivation but uh motivation is back and I'm happy!


End file.
